Windermerehttp://redding.windermere.com/blogs/windermere/posts
Community Service Day Southwest Event Recap<p>
Last Friday, Windermere offices in California, Nevada, and Arizona took some time off from selling houses to make a big difference in their communities. Over the past week, we have heard some remarkable stories about the rewards of volunteering as a part of our annual Community Service Day.</p>
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<strong>Southern California</strong></p>
<p>
Windermere Downtown San Diego spent the day at the Gary and Mary West Senior Center. Agents and owners worked together to serve more than 600 senior residents lunch, as well as an additional 200 lunches for home delivery; they also organized other fun activities throughout the day.</p>
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&quot;We hope to continue to inspire by example the tradition of donating and volunteering in our community where we live and work.&quot;</p>
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<a href="http://www.prweb.com/releases/2012windermerespcommunity/10day/prweb10050402.htm">-Francine Finn, Windermere Owner, Downtown San Diego </a></p>
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<img alt="" src="/uploads/ckeditor_assets/2/pictures/763/content_San_Diego.jpg" style="width: 700px; height: 542px; " /></p>
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<strong>Northern California</strong></p>
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This year, the Windermere Clayton, Diablo, and Bay Area offices teamed up to help the Boys and Girls Club of Diablo Valley. All three offices worked together to help clean and restore the center.</p>
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<iframe class="youtube-player" frameborder="0" height="390" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9ECtP3YOqfQ?rel=0&amp;wmode=transparent" title="YouTube video player" type="text/html" width="480"></iframe></p>
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<strong>Nevada</strong></p>
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Windermere Offices in Henderson, Anthem Hills, and Lake Las Vegas teamed up to make a big difference for local elementary students at the Twin Lakes Elementary School in Las Vegas. Agents and staff spent the day cleaning up the school, including refreshing interior doors with new paint. The offices also elected to <a href="http://www.ktnv.com/news/local/174974231.html">donate more than 725 new pairs of shoes</a> to the students, most of who are on assistance programs.</p>
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<img alt="" src="/uploads/ckeditor_assets/2/pictures/762/content_Nevada.jpg" style="width: 700px; height: 525px; " /></p>
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<strong>Arizona</strong></p>
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Windermere Prescott has spent the last few weeks collecting warm winter clothing, and spent their community service day packing up jackets and blankets to help local families stay warm for the winter.</p>
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<img alt="" src="/uploads/ckeditor_assets/2/pictures/761/content_Arizona.jpg" style="width: 700px; height: 525px; " /></p>
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&nbsp;</p>
<p>
<strong>And the Winners of the Photo Contest are&hellip; </strong></p>
<p>
Last week we also announced that each office that posted a photo on the <a href="http://www.facebook.com/windermererealestate">Windermere Real Estate Facebook page</a> would be entered in a &ldquo;Photo Challenge&rdquo;. The following offices participated and have earned a $100 donation to their Foundation fund:</p>
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<strong>Arizona:</strong></p>
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Prescott</p>
<p>
<strong>California:</strong></p>
<p>
&middot;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Clayton</p>
<p>
&middot;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; El Sobrante</p>
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&middot;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Walnut Creek</p>
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&middot;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Diablo</p>
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&middot;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Bay Area</p>
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<strong>Nevada:</strong></p>
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&middot;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Lake Las Vegas</p>
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&middot;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Henderson</p>
<p>
&middot;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Anthem Hills)</p>
<p>
The office with the most &ldquo;likes&rdquo; on their photo won an additional $1,000 donation benefiting their Windermere Foundation fund which supports low-income and homeless families.</p>
<p>
The winners of this contest are our Northern California group! <strong>Windermere offices in Clayton, Diablo, and the Bay Area</strong> all worked together to encourage agents, friends and clients to vote, collecting 170 &ldquo;votes&rdquo; on their photo</p>
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<img alt="" src="/uploads/ckeditor_assets/2/pictures/764/content_North_CA.jpg" style="width: 700px; height: 483px; " /></p>
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Congratulations to all our Windermere offices for the great Community Service Day!</p>
<p>
You can see more photos from Community Service Day at <a href="http://www.facebook.com/WindermereRealEstate">www.facebook.com/WindermereRealEstate</a> and a complete list of projects <a href="http://www.windermere.com/blogs/windermere/posts/community-service-day-southwest">here</a>.</p>
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redding.windermere.com/uploads/blog_post_featured_images/blog_post/images/724/thumb_2012CSD_FullColor.jpgCommunity Service Day Southwest Event Recaphttp://redding.windermere.com/blogs/windermere/posts/community-service-day-southwest-event-recap
Fri, 26 Oct 2012 13:45:00 -0700http://redding.windermere.com/blogs/windermere/posts/community-service-day-southwest-event-recap
http://redding.windermere.com/blogs/windermere/posts/community-service-day-southwest-event-recapCommunity Service Day Southwest <p>
&nbsp;</p>
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<img alt="" src="/uploads/ckeditor_assets/2/pictures/714/content_2012CSD_FullColor.jpg" style="width: 300px; height: 137px; margin: 0px; " /></p>
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<p>
On Friday, October 19th, Windermere offices in Arizona, California, and Nevada will be closed for a very special reason. For the past 28 years, Windermere has dedicated the third Friday of October to our annual Community Service Day*. On that day, you will find our team doing a variety of projects, including cleaning, landscaping, and painting at local community centers and schools, collecting coats for low-income and homeless families and working with local nonprofit organizations to ensure kids in our communities are getting the resources they need.</p>
<p>
This year we want to do a little bit more. For each office that posts their Community Service Day photographs and videos on the Windermere Real Estate Facebook page, (<a href="http://www.facebook.com/WindermereRealEstate">www.facebook.com/WindermereRealEstate</a>) the Windermere Foundation will donate $100 dollars to that office&rsquo;s Foundation fund, to benefit low-income and homeless families. We encourage you to &ldquo;like&rdquo; your local offices Facebook page, as well as your favorite Community Service Day photos. The office with the most photo/video &ldquo;likes&rdquo; and comments will receive a $1,000 donation for the Windermere Foundation charity of their choice. The contest will end next Wednesday, October 24th.</p>
<p>
<em>*Windermere&rsquo;s Northwest offices hold their Community Service Day in June</em></p>
<h2>
Windermere Office Projects for October 2012:</h2>
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<strong>Arizona</strong></p>
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Prescott</p>
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&quot;Warm for Winter Coat Drive&quot;</p>
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Prescott Valley</p>
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&quot;Warm for Winter Coat Drive&quot;</p>
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Scottsdale</p>
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&quot;Warm for Winter Coat Drive&quot;</p>
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<strong>California</strong></p>
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Clayton</p>
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The Boys &amp; Girls Club in Martinez</p>
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El Sobrante</p>
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The El Sobrante Boys &amp; Girls Club</p>
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San Diego- Downtown</p>
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Food drive and serving lunches to more than 600 seniors</p>
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Santa Rosa</p>
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Habitat for Humanity</p>
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Walnut Creek</p>
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The Boys &amp; Girls Club in Martinez</p>
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Walnut Creek- Diablo Realty</p>
</td>
<td style="width:372px;height:24px;">
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The Boys &amp; Girls Club in Martinez</p>
</td>
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<td nowrap="nowrap" style="width:241px;height:24px;">
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Windsor</p>
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<td style="width:372px;height:24px;">
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Habitat for Humanity</p>
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Yucca Valley</p>
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Rotary- redecorate Child Protective Services receiving room</p>
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<strong>Nevada</strong></p>
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Henderson- Anthem Hills</p>
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YMCA of Southern Nevada &amp; The Twin Lakes Elementary School</p>
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Lake Las Vegas</p>
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YMCA of Southern Nevada &amp; The Twin Lakes Elementary School</p>
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Las Vegas- Henderson</p>
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YMCA of Southern Nevada &amp; The Twin Lakes Elementary School</p>
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<td nowrap="nowrap" style="width:241px;height:48px;">
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Services Nevada</p>
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YMCA of Southern Nevada &amp; The Twin Lakes Elementary School</p>
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</tbody>
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redding.windermere.com/uploads/blog_post_featured_images/blog_post/images/722/thumb_2012CSD_FullColor.jpgCommunity Service Day Southwest http://redding.windermere.com/blogs/windermere/posts/community-service-day-southwest
Tue, 16 Oct 2012 15:07:00 -0700http://redding.windermere.com/blogs/windermere/posts/community-service-day-southwest
http://redding.windermere.com/blogs/windermere/posts/community-service-day-southwestHow the Job Market Impacts Your Home Buying Decision <p>
&nbsp;</p>
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&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Firstly, let&rsquo;s get a little scholarly and break down the job numbers that came out last week:</p>
<p>
These figures drew a ton of attention in the media because, on the surface, they were rather bullish! The good news, according to the report, was that the U.S. created 114,000 new jobs in September. Furthermore, the data for August was revised to show that, rather than the employment base expanding by 94,000 jobs, the actual figure was 142,000 jobs. What was even more astounding, however, was that the unemployment rate was slashed from 8.1% to 7.8%!</p>
<p>
So what the heck is going on here?</p>
<p>
I am not going to comment on potential conspiracy theories about the &ldquo;books being cooked&rdquo; because it insults the economic process that I am closely linked to. Rather, I&rsquo;m going to focus on how the data is gathered. The government does this in two ways. The first is the household survey (a.k.a. Current Population Survey) and the second is the Current Employment Statistics survey &ndash; also known as the payroll survey. One calculates the unemployment rate, while the other calculates the number of jobs created in a certain timeframe.</p>
<p>
The household survey is a monthly sample survey of approximately 60,000 households, while the C.E.S. survey is far larger and addresses 141,000 business and government agencies that cover approximately 486,000 establishments (or businesses).</p>
<p>
According to the latest household survey, the number of employed adults increased by a whopping 873,000, while the number of adults saying they are either unemployed or looking for work increased by 418,000. The number of unemployed workers fell 456,000 and, therefore, the unemployment rate fell 0.3 percentage points to 7.8%. Much of this was due to the number of part-time workers that soared by 582,000. The payroll survey, however, increased by just 114,000 &ndash; the reported figure in the jobs report.</p>
<p>
As an aside, it was also pleasing to see that there was a large decrease (-206,000) in unemployment among 20- to 24-year-olds. I am sure that there are a few readers of this blog who have children living back at home after having graduated from college. Hopefully these numbers are an indication that they will be headed off soon!</p>
<p>
So what does this all mean? Well, my take on it is that the market continues to exhibit growth in jobs, but I suspect we will see some major revisions to these numbers as we head into the winter. That said, at this point, the glass is certainly half full.</p>
<p>
The decision to buy a home rests on many factors. In addition to the obvious ones &ndash; the ability to qualify for a loan, finding a home that you want to buy, seeing a housing market that is either stable or starting to appreciate &ndash; we need confidence in the economy and, specifically, the job market. During the past couple of years, we haven&rsquo;t had this confidence but that is starting to change. Our confidence in the job market is improving and, therefore, our consideration of buying a major asset, such as a home, has started to improve as well.</p>
<p>
My belief in this statement is supported by home sales data from many parts of the country that continues to exhibit stability &ndash; albeit with woefully low levels of inventory &ndash; and modest increases in home values.</p>
<p>
Confidence appears to be returning and this, in turn, is likely to become self-perpetuating.&nbsp; One month&rsquo;s data is insufficient to state that all is better now, but improving job numbers are key to confidence, and confidence is key when it comes to the housing market.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
Fri, 12 Oct 2012 12:30:00 -0700http://redding.windermere.com/blogs/windermere/posts/how-the-job-market-impacts-your-home-buying-decision
http://redding.windermere.com/blogs/windermere/posts/how-the-job-market-impacts-your-home-buying-decisionWhen searching for homes online, are you really seeing everything that’s for sale? <p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
<img alt="" src="/uploads/ckeditor_assets/2/pictures/758/content_OB_Jacobi.jpg" style="width: 150px; height: 225px; margin: 2px 6px; float: left; " /></p>
<p>
Today the WAV Group, one of the largest real estate consulting firms in the nation, published the results of an independent study that compared listing information on real estate brokerage websites like Windermere.com with those of national real estate portals, such as Zillow and Trulia. The study focused on 11 major markets and found that local real estate brokerage websites have the most complete, accurate, and up-to-date information about homes for sale.</p>
<p>
You can read more about the study <a href="http://bit.ly/PWRuwe">here</a>. The study&rsquo;s main findings included:</p>
<p>
- Local real estate brokerage sites display 100% of the agent-listed homes for sale compared to about 80% for the national portal sites.</p>
<p>
- Local real estate brokerage sites show newly listed homes for sale seven to nine days earlier than national portals.</p>
<p>
- Local real estate brokerage sites almost never show a home listing as active that has already sold; about 36% of listings that appear as active on national portals are no longer for sale.</p>
<p>
So what does this mean for home buyers and sellers? It means that local real estate brokerage websites like Windermere.com are your best bet for the most complete and accurate information about homes that are for sale. To learn more about the differences between local real estate brokerage websites and national portals, and how it impacts buyers and sellers, please see the <a href="http://bit.ly/PWRuwe">WAV Group study</a>.</p>
<p>
<em>OB Jacobi is the president of Windermere Real Estate. For more information please visit <a href="http://www.Windermere.com">www.Windermere.com</a>.</em></p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
redding.windermere.com/uploads/blog_post_featured_images/blog_post/images/720/thumb_OB_Jacobi.jpgWhen searching for homes online, are you really seeing everything that’s for sale? http://redding.windermere.com/blogs/windermere/posts/when-searching-for-homes-online-are-you-really-seeing-everything-that-s-for-sale
Wed, 03 Oct 2012 10:30:00 -0700http://redding.windermere.com/blogs/windermere/posts/when-searching-for-homes-online-are-you-really-seeing-everything-that-s-for-sale
http://redding.windermere.com/blogs/windermere/posts/when-searching-for-homes-online-are-you-really-seeing-everything-that-s-for-sale